Rim lug



RIM LUG April 22, 1930.

Filed April 6, 1929 Y FIIIIIIIIA'II/ Patented ,Apr-

. MATT ezuPKAyriE, or BALrI1vr0ni3,' MAnYtA1\Tn V ap lic tien filea iiiiii s,

. This application is a continuation in part of aprior application,-Serial No.'285,122,"filed June 13,1928. This invention relates to rim-lugs, and more fparticularly-to devices of this character constructed and arrangedffor clamping a de- I mountable automobile tire rim to the felly of the automobile wheel,' to: permit it to be removed 'for the purposeof changing tires.

" 'By'the'present invention many of the cultiesattending the removal of arim from,

or its application to, the wheel are obviated by pivotally mounting the lug,'so thatit'may be swung about its pivot outwardly from the felly of the wheel,'andat the same time swivellingthe rim nut to the lug. With this arrangement all that is necessary is to unscrew the rim nut, and thelug swinging outwardly about its pivotal connection with the felly will '20 ride below the rim, permitting it to be readily removed. Then when the rim is restored, all that'is necessary is totighten upthe rim nut inasmuch as the lug will swing about its pivotal connection intothe desired position to hold the rim'on the wheel.

It is "therefore one of the' objectsl of the present inventionto provide :a means for mounting automobile demountable rims with which no hand manipulation other then turning the rim nut is required to remove or replace the rim. Another object of the, invention is to provide a pivotal connection between the rim lug and the felly of the wheel in which there are no exposed hinges, and in "which no alteration-or additionneed be made to the ordinary metallic fellyotherthan the provision of holes through one of the vertical flanges thereof. Another object of the invention is to 'provide a one-piece rim lug which may be pivotallyfmounted on a'wheel felly by means of a simple retaining pin such -,as a cotter pin, the pin being eifectivelyprotected and concealed byvirtue of its location on the inside ofthe felly.

be apparent from the following description drawings.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a vertical crosssection through a wheel havinga demountable rim thereoniaccording to my invention boltand' forthepivotal mounting of the rim Other objects and features of novelty will taken in connection with the accompanying V p I V movable along the outer end of the bolt 20,

' and comprisesa polygonal head 26 having integral therewith'a sleeve portion 27 ter- 1100 i929. Serial no. 53,140." I

" Figure 2is'a viewf'of thestructure shown-in J Figure l-showing the parts in *position'to permit the rim-to be rem'oved'over thelu'g {Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure *1 showing amodifled arrangement for-mounting a a difierent form of rim; 1 f Figure 4 is aside elevation of the structure shown'in'Figure-l; p I Figure'5 is a side view of the wheeljfelly with'the rim lug removed, and showing the holes providedfor cooperation'witlithe fell v securing lug; 165

Figure 6is a perspective view of-the rim securing lug, showing the inner or fellyengaging side thereof; and a Figure 7is a horizontal section along the line 77 of'Figure 1, showing the between the lug and the fel'ly.

' Referring-more particularly to the-drawings, the invention is illustrated in connection with an automobile wheel, the felly of which "is' indicated generally at 10. I The felly com-' prises aweb 14:, an outer 'fian'ge'15, and an innerffiange 11 having a tapered seat 12' to re-" ceivethe inner edge of the rim indicated at13.

As shown in-Figure 1', the rim 13 is of the type having an outer ridge 16 which consti- 8.0

tutesj an annular inwardly directed flange integral with the rim and is adapted tobe engaged by a rim securing lug to hold the rim wedged against the seat 12, and in alignment with'the flange 15 of the felly'. I

"'"Th'e'rim lsprovlded'with aplurality of "rim bolts, generallyfrom 4 to 8 in number, depending uponthe sizeof the wheel. One I ofthese rim bolts is shown'at 20. This bolt has a head 21 which bears against theflange '90 11' and is provided with' 'a-rectangular neck A nut/25 is adapted to be threadedon and mounted a a connection 70 minating in an inner collar 28. Head 26 and collar 28 define between them an annular a groove 29 which is adapted to provide a swivel mounting for the rim'lug. The rim lug is indicated generally at 30, and asshown in 31 comprising a flatiihoiiizontalI3bottoin 32 and a slightly. curved, generally vertical, side v on either side by thickened vertical flanges" This central web portion 3lis bounded 34,vwhich join the thinwb portion'3l"to form' thethin rounded-top edge 5259f the lug. Due to ofthesidefianges 34 end the thinness (life-the inner web portion 131,;thedns-ide-oflthedng hasa-hollewed-out shape,; as; shownin EigureB, and forms "an enelpsed spaee asshownan Eigure 1 when the -upperedge er the rim-securing lug engages the rim. j j r {Rhe -lug: provided with; an elongated central. aperture 37 by means of which the lug' is swi elly-anou-nted omthe-sleeve j27 t the'nut 25, theinn'er eollar 28 9ithe nut, adapted to bear"against-the curved-inner web 33 of the luggheing reeeivedin the hollowed-out; space bounded by thetliickened side flanges 34 of the lug.

K he lower: ends; 'e1" thetwo thickenedside flanges 34 are provide cl with latera1ly1extending czprej eetiens 39 having curved ends 40. -l -hese= -latera lly extendingprojections 39 are adapted to passthr ough holes'42 in-the wheel felly' as 'sho'wn in lligrv l. In that figure it willhe-seen that-'the lower edges 41; of the laterally extendingyprojections 39 are very slightly-above the welo-l4 of the' wheel telly while l the flat horizontal bottom portion 32 .ot theinner web of -the lug is approximately flush with-the exposed suri'ace of the web 14 of the wheeltelly. The lower horizontal sur face of-theweb pertion 32 of the; lug is connected to the la-tehal proj ections39-by the c'onleave curved portioni 43 ferming part of the curved inner-edge 44 'ofthe h'orizontal bottomef the web which extends from side to side of the lug. V I p r Y The;prejections -39far'e5 provided a with horizontal'aligned holes 1 45 through which a cot- 2t6Ilpin -46 iS adapted to be passed to secure ate rim securing dug in a pivotal 'relatiento :thewheel-ifelly. V v 4 It is' to :be "noted'lthat t-he extending -;-projections ['39sare-quite .close' to the-ldwer surace 32 f the-bottom of the lugand areseparated th ere'frm by a distanceronly approxirnateiy .equal "that: of "the {thickness of the metal of the wheel felly. Referringtoltigure :5 it -vvi ll beiseenvthat the :holes'5-42 extend sEelly, V V

iteierri ng to the above descliption and-to per edge "rim.

the drawings it will be seen that the rim-securing lug is swivelled to a horizontally movable nut 25, and is also pivotally connected, at its end nearest the wheel hub, to the felly, so as to be capable of an outward swingmg movement from'the position shown 1n F gure- 1 to that shown-1n F gure-2,. .l/Yhen 1n thei imtseenringfpcsitien-of Figure 1 the up- 1 per edge 52 of the lug bears agalnst the rim and retains the latter in place, while in the o utwar d l y swung pesition of Figure 2 the up- 52 is below the lateral path of the In the torm of the invention shown in Figure3the'rim'not'pmvided with a ridge as inid ig-ure -l, but has a continuously smooth innersuriace fwithreunded corners In order to effectively engage this type o-firim the rim-securing-lug 30 has [its vertical flanges 34 and-its enerai curvature somewhatmodified from the diorm shown in Figure 1. in-the 'i'ornr otFig-ure 3 the vertical flanges 34'- terminate attheir upper eXtr-emitiesin curved surfaces55 which conform tothe curvature of the roundedcorners 540i the rim. {Inthis 7 form 9ftheuinventien the lug is less curved than in the form eff Figure l and'extendsin amore nearly verticaldirection. The upper -ed:ge;52 of thelug extendshigh enough to-engage the rim-at the upper part of its rounded corner-541and, together with theeurved surtaces 55 of the vertical flanges holdsthe rim in; place; In FigureB the nut and bolt are identical witht'hose-in Figurelandare designatedby the-same numerals. The otherparts 'correspondingto those in Figure 1 are desig nated bythe numerals used in Figure 1 with the addition the primes. 1 A

In operation the nut 25 is unscrewed, which causes the inner collar-28 of the nutto engage the web 33 ofthe' rim-securin.g ;lug to force it positively outward. =-Sincethe lower; part of the'lug ispr'evented from moving outwardly due to theengagement of-the cotter pin 46 with the-innerwa-ll of the Wheel-telly, the rimsecuring'lug is forced to pivot aboutthe v cot-' lLQIYP'lITQG. 4 sthe nut25 is moved outwardly the rilns'securinglug rides about the cotter pin as i a pivot until the outer -end{52 of the-lug is bel-o-w the-horizontal;path of lthe ==innermost; portion; Of the erim. :This -permits the rim to bereadily-removedandj ustwas :readily replaced. In the interval between which-the .is removed and replaced the lugsoi' the wheel will be-positivelyretained which case they would interfere withv the replacing of;- theirim. Bymerely tightening'up the nut-25,1 the-lug-30 is caused toi swing uptl'ow n awry nearly-to the bottom of the" wheel wardly and inwardly into rim engag-ing position. In this 7 inwardly swingingnnotion ot thelugits concave'eurved surface43 irides viously there are no loose parts to fall oil. as

the rim revolvesor to be misplaced or lost is claimedas-new and desired to be secured about the adjacent corner of the telly, and

the lower surfaces 41 of the inwardly extending projections 39 ride about the bottomsurfaces in the holes42 in the telly flange, as

will be seen from a comparison of Figures 2 and 1. 7

From the foregoingdescription it will be apparent that the action of the rim lug is.

substantially automatic in that all that is necessary is tounscrew or'tighten the nut 25 to remo-veor replace the rim as desired. Ob-

in changing a tire. In addition'there are no projecting parts except the rim-securing lugv which has a smooth outer surface, and the nut 25. Due'to the'fact that the pivotal connection of the lug to'the felly is efiectively concealed, a very neat appearance is obtained and the possibility of injury to the pivotal connection is minimized.

Having thus described the invention, what by Letters'Patent is:

In a device for securing a demountable rim to a wheel, the combination or a bolt carried by the wheel, a nut member and a rim securing lug member thereon, one of said members having a groove and .the' othera flange engagecl insaid groove whereby said members are loosely but permanently swivelled together'in such a manner that said lug member may be positively swung in either direction as the nut member is turned-upon the bolt, a pair of hinge elementsprojecting from said lug member adjacent the end of the lug member nearest the wheel hub through'perforations into the felly'of the wheel, and pintle meansinside of said felly. for retaining said hinge elements, whereby said lug member is constrained to a pivotal movement about its end while being moved into and out of its rim securing position, said lug member being of such length that when in its out wardly swung position it allows the rim-to be withdrawn over itsfree end. a

In testimony whereof I hereunto affixmy signature. 7

' MATT GZUPKAYT IE. 

